2006 Press Releases
Rome Hospital Patient Paul Thompson Stands Tall After Overcoming Effects of Heart Attack ROME –If anyone understands the gift of being able to stand and walk again, it is 71-year-old Paul Thompson, a rehabilitation patient at Rome Memorial Hospital’s Residential Health Care Facility. Since last year when Thompson suffered a heart attack and underwent coronary bypass surgery, he has been receiving occupational, physical and speech therapy twice a day in order to regain his ability to stand tall; both in stature – he is almost 6 feet tall – and in the way he views life. Paul Thompson is a very positive person. “After the heart attack, Paul was significantly compromised in functional mobility and what he could do for himself,” said Occupational Therapist John Esposito. Thompson was unable to walk or to even stand and he needed a feeding tube to receive nutrition. “The team sat down to determine what we needed to get him home,” said Esposito, referring to Physical Therapist Donna Mondello, Physical Therapy Assistant Ed Scalise, Occupational Therapist Michelle Madore and Speech Therapist Jennifer Chao. They created a plan for Thompson to work on balance, activities of daily living, endurance, functional skills and swallowing. “His muscle weakness was significant,” said Esposito. “He was very de-conditioned and had extreme pain in his legs. When we first saw him, he couldn’t move. It took three people to get him to stand up.” When Thompson had the heart attack, he was also fighting arthritis and diabetes and was overweight. And after the bypass surgery, he had pneumonia which further compromised his health. Now Thompson is able to not only stand, but he is able to walk five hundred feet a day. “I thought I could do anything prior to the heart attack,” he said. “But there were signs I wasn’t doing well. I was always huffing and puffing,” he added. “I haven’t seen many people bounce back from where he’s been,” said Esposito. “But he is really pushing himself. He is one of those guys who exemplifies the perfect patient as far as motivation and determination. It has been an incredible journey for him.” Thompson credits his bride of 52 years, Marian, and the Rome Memorial Hospital occupational, physical and speech therapy team, with his recovery. “This has really been difficult,” said Thompson. “I never thought I’d walk again. But my wife thought I would. She prays a lot – maybe that does more than I think it does,” he added. “I always thought God wouldn’t give me anything I couldn’t handle, but this was a test,” said Marian, a devout Catholic, who overcame ovarian and uterine cancer in 1986. She said she asked fellow parishioners and the choir at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Lee Center to pray for her husband and herself during their very difficult journey. “I would tell Paul, “You will make it. You can do it. Together, we can make it through this,” she said. “He did all the work, but I hope I gave him the encouragement.” “When he was an acute inpatient, she was there 24/7,” said Chao, referring to Marian. “And when she wasn’t there, she went to the chapel to pray,” she added. Marian’s mother Margaret Moyer is also a resident in the hospital’s 80-bed Residential Health Care Facility. “Personally, I wanted to die,” said Thompson. “I wanted to get out of the way because I thought ‘I’m causing too much trouble for these people – for my wife and for my kids,’” he said, referring to his six children, Michael, Christopher, Gregory, Vincent, Thomas and Margaret and their families. “Some nights, I would go to bed and think, ‘God, maybe it might be better if I don’t wake up. I never thought I’d think a thought like that,” he said, because he always had a good life –a beautiful family, 13 beautiful grandchildren, a job as an air traffic controller, and the enjoyment of hobbies such as gardening and hunting. “But now I’m past that,” he added, with a sparkle in his eye. “My biggest accomplishment is walking with a walker. Each week, I walk a few more feet,” he said. It’s obvious the hospital team tasked with helping Thompson to recover are very inspired by their patient who “couldn’t even stand or complete a slide board transfer when we first saw him,” according to Scalise. “I think he is inspirational,” said Chao. “His outlook – no matter the day or how he is feeling – is positive.” “He tries to cheer up other patients – He tries to motivate other patients,” added Madore. “Paul has brought us together, too, because we all started about the same time,” said Scalise. “If we hadn’t all worked together as a team, Paul would still be where he was in August.” “I credit these folks with their determination that I’m able to walk,” said Thompson. “They’re quite a team,” he added. Thompson has shown determination his entire life. He was born prematurely – he weighed only 4 pounds, 3 ounces – and was the only child out of a family twelve that was born in a hospital. At a young age, he started working at a vegetable farm near Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 100 miles east of Pittsburgh. He moved to Rome in 1961 – he had served here in the military in 1956 – and became an air traffic controller at Griffiss Air Force Base and Oneida County Airport in Oriskany. Thompson’s goal since he began rehabilitation has always been to go home and he plans to do so within the next few weeks. He will take up where he left off before the heart attack – going fishing for trout or walleye, gardening, joining in with his buddies at the American Legion, cooking beef jerky, soups or chili and baking cookies for his thirteen grandchildren, who lovingly refer to him as ‘Pappy Good Cookie.’ “We joke that Marian goes to Mass and that I’m baking my way to heaven,” he said. “Maybe now we might do a little traveling. We never used to,” says Marian. “We want to make up for the time we’ve lost and the trips we haven’t taken.” Rome Memorial Hospital provides a full continuum of rehabilitation services including Subacute Rehabilitation on its third floor Residential Health Care Facility and more intensive acute inpatient physical rehabilitation on its fourth floor. For more information, call 338-7000. 
A smiling Paul Thompson credits the occupational, physical and speech therapy staff at Rome Memorial Hospital with his ability to recover after a heart attack. Now, Thompson is able to not only stand, but he is able to walk five hundred feet a day. | Shown here is the team that worked with Paul Thompson on reocvery after his heart attack. Left to right: Occupational Therapist John Esposito, Occupational Therapist Michelle Madore, Paul Thompson, Physical Therapy Assistant Ed Scalise, and Physical Therapist Donna Mondello. Missing from the photograph is Speech Therapist Jennifer Chao. 
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Paul Thompson's wife, Marian, encouraged and prayed for her husband during the difficult process of recovery. |
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